New Rocketfish Lian-Li Case

[NightrainSrt4]

Well as some know from the hardware thread, I got one of the Rocketfish/Lian-Li full towers for my 21st. Instead of having an idea thread and my question, I shall just keep it to one thread.

I don't know if it will be like Nightrain^2 or another name, but that issue aside, I have been working hard on the design first this time, instead of winging it as I go.

My question:

I want to do a motherboard cover as this case doesn't have a lot of wire management. I think it will be plexi. The rig has the cpu and nb watercooled.

Would a plexi motherboard cover cause issues with temperature? These are common in both Defyant's mods and DAE_JA_VOO's mods, so I would assume not, but I want to make sure.

I could go with a mesh one like jergerjon did in NLM but I am not sure if the mesh would go with the design I am planning. Any thoughts?

[NightrainSrt4]

Just so this fits better here in idea zone I will explain the design a bit.

As above I was thinking about the motherboard cover. I am also going to make a cover that will separate the bottom section of the case where the psu is and hdd racks from the upper section.

I have designed a couple different options for the radiator mount but need to actually see the case before I decide where I will actually put it, which determines which design I choose.

All of these are going to be made with two layers of 1/8" plexi. The innermost will be red and the outer black. Holes that are cut through will have the red hole be smaller than the black so the red shows through as an accent.

I have some basic sketches, but not sure when I'll be able to upload them. Most of my work so far has been on the inside. I am not sure how I am going to do the outside of the case, as I want to keep it subtle, as the lian-li type cases have a beautiful subtlety and I don't want to stray to far from that.

The questions above still stand, just making this fit better into idea zone. As mentioned I will be posting my ideas here, and didn't want to make another thread just to ask if motherboard covers cause too much heat buildup/deadzones.

[jbaldwinroberts]

If it has worked on other mods i dont see why it would not work for you. As far as deadzones go you could put a couple of 30mm fans into each side of the cover to move air behind it.

sorta like this

joe

[NightrainSrt4]

Ya, I guess I could throw a couple small fans behind it.

I was just curious as I have seen it done in other mods, but I hadn't seen the consequences discussed. Was just curious if anyone heard of like the motherboard overheating or something. Small fans could work though I suppose.

[chaksq]

Usually the hottest parts of the motherboard: North/South bridges, RAM, and CPU have holes cut to expose the cooler. Or else it is mounted a few inches above the mainboard. If you are really worried about it they do make liquid cooling kits for everything like that.

[NightrainSrt4]

Well, my CPU and Northbridge are already watercooled and will be in the rig.

The only decent ram watercoolers I have seen appear to be the koolance ones but my two sticks of ram aren't right beside each other so I would need two of them and those are 50$ a piece. And the bag thing they use rips easily I hear.

I just haven't used a motherboard cover before and wasn't sure about its effects (ill or not) on temps. I think when I try it, if temps are too high I will put a couple 40mm fans on it on low voltage(noise) to get a bit more airflow if its needed.

[NightrainSrt4]

Well today as a birthday present to me I ordered a couple things.

From a guy on another forum I occasionally visit, I got two more of the WD 160Gb Sata2 hard drives matching the one I have currently. They are pretty much brand new, only used for ~hour before he decided to use one larger drive for the rig. He's been there as long as I have, ~2 years, and is in pretty good standing with every one so I am inclined to believe him on that.

Best part, got both them for $60 + a couple bucks to cover paypal. Not insane when you consider that the 320's are 70$ on newegg, but it is nice because the 160's are ~50-60 depending on where you look, and I wanted to get more then one drive, as I can use the extra on another rig if I need to.

I also ordered plexi from usplastic.com for the rig. This time I am doing it right and getting the colored plexi, instead of painting clear plexi.

So today's stuff so far, and looking at tubing and stuff atm comes to:

2 Western Digital 160Gb Sata Hdd's
2 sheets 24"x24"x1/8" translucent red acrylic
2 sheets 24"x24"x1/8" black acrylic
1 sheet 24" x24"x1/8" smoke grey acrylic

Got the smoke grey as I wasn't sure if I wanted to use it, or red, or the clear I have for a window.

[Okele]

I bought 2 of these cases last week. I saw one there that I was planning to go back and get for a backup unit. These cases are the best cases around for the price(clearance), and even at thier retail price of 119, its still a helluva case. I got one for myself at 48.00 and my wife said shed cut me off if I didnt get one for her, she said she had her own ideas for a mod. Of course I have to do all the work. Pft. Any grats on your case cant wait to see what you do with it.

[NightrainSrt4]

Thanks. Nice find. That's cool that your wife wants to mod as well!

I have a pretty well rounded design for the inside of the case, but haven't decided on the outside yet. I have always been a fan of the sleek clean Lian-li type lines, and now I can't come up with anything for what I want on the outside.

I don't want to do anything that would make it too tacky or anything, but I don't want it to be like every other Lian-Li case with ACRyan rad grills with accent matching acrylic underneath.

[Okele]

Thanks. Nice find. That's cool that your wife wants to mod as well!

I have a pretty well rounded design for the inside of the case, but haven't decided on the outside yet. I have always been a fan of the sleek clean Lian-li type lines, and now I can't come up with anything for what I want on the outside.

I don't want to do anything that would make it too tacky or anything, but I don't want it to be like every other Lian-Li case with ACRyan rad grills with accent matching acrylic underneath.

I think you misunderstood me. She doesnt want "to" mod, she wants "it" modded. Shes already told me what she wants and finding anything relating to the theme is a PITA. I've already started working on it but its windy season here so getting any painting done is easier said then done.